I would like to propose a thesis, and it might just be pure conjecture. But it’s something that seems to crop up online with relative frequency, especially in the age of linkbait. I’m speaking of a common trend in blogging, journalism, and opinion writing; that trend being “overrated” lists and articles. I would imagine they are easy to write and stir up a good amount of traffic. I see this driven by 2 major factors: millennials (people my age) enjoy saying stuff is overrated — it makes us feel like iconoclasts — and websites exploiting this fixation. They are easy to write because basically all that needs to be done is finding something that has often been considered “classic” or held in high regard and proceed to suggest that the praise is unwarranted. Pepper it with snark, smugness, and a properly contrived sense of contrarianism.
My conjecture is that this particular phenomenon has become increasingly common as the social media generation flowers into adulthood. Something about seeing the “overrated” tag in a headline seems to spike an emotional response one way or the other, and we must click and find out what sacred cow is being desecrated. The manifestation of this trend in music writing and journalism is particularly insufferable. And I use strong words here because I have been just as prone towards this fixation of wanting to come across as iconoclastic. But often times it’s more demonstrative of an ‘overwrought’ and antagonistic disposition.
One particular example of this was a “most overrated bands” list I found during past inter-web perusals. These are often written under the guise of “hipster hating” or some other nefarious form of high-mindedness, and oddly, the most hipster sounding articles now are the ones hating on hipsters. Anti-hipsters are the new hipsters. Back to the example; what this fellow chose to do was dig up 20 or so of the most respected or appreciated indie bands of the last decade (The Black Keys, TV On the Radio, Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, etc) and contrive the most facile ways to insult them, or more so insult the listeners and their fashion choices. It was almost admirable in its troll-like nature. But if a reader had never listened to these bands, they might actually think this guy knew what he was talking about. And that’s why this trend of internet monologuing and entertainment can’t just simply be dismissed. Nor should we seek it out. However, it would behoove us to understand the generational and cultural context behind this sort of rhetoric; hoping that we gain a greater understanding of why we like to basically make fun of things.
Parody and trolling are too often looking exactly the same nowadays, which is ruining the art and utility of parody. These “overrated” articles apparently work, but they’re lazy and serve no higher purpose but to generate clicks and frustration. The frustration is key as often people will turn to their social media outlets, even sharing the link, voicing how appalled they are (I’ve done this). Or the reverse, posting smugly and declaring “HA, I’ve always told everyone those flannel wearing neckbeards listening to Arcade Fire ARE out of their mind” as though one article confirms this theory in their mind; a theory which is largely based on the individual’s insecurity. I am being critically harsh here, and I feel warranted in doing so as I have done both these things — being smug or feigning outrage. It’s emotionally satisfying…word of advice: RESIST!
What are the motivations behind what we post or what we choose to click on and subsequently share? I find it useful to ask myself this question with frequency and have avoided considerable consternation as a result. The purpose of this kind of writing was often just about riling people up. It’s the nature of the linkbait beast.
I can only hope we are starting to move on from this hijacking of our reactionary natures and seeing it for what it is — shallow distraction serving as a veiled form of status seeking. If I can say such and such is overrated, I demonstrate my superiority…right? On the contrary, I’ve made it obvious that my identity felt threatened.
So I’ll end by simply suggesting that millennials have much to offer, but their fixation on what is “overrated” seems very clearly overrated. The larger attitude being one of rebellion and iconoclasm; which can be wholly healthy and necessary. Just not so much on Buzzfeed threads or a Tubmlr blog while aimed at suspect and trivial targets. Its become an unfortunate distraction that co-opts the passions driving individuality, jettisoning them off in a dubious scatter shot of forced big words so it still has the veneer of clever individualism. We feed the beast this way. Self awareness is called for. I continue to try, and I hope we all do.
PEACE
Quick Hits
Album that surprised me greatly: Goddess by Banks
Album of the year watch: Run the Jewels ‘RTJ2’, Kate Tempest ‘Everybody Down’, alt-J ‘This is All Yours’, Sylvan Esso ‘self-titled’, EMA ‘The Future’s Void’, among others and much more to listen to.
Observation from rewatching Lost: Season 3 has been better than I originally recall, stuff actually starts happening! The fact that it is often ambiguous or inexplicable, I’ve better understood this time around, is key to the themes that run through the entirety of the show.
Observation about the Pac Northwest: Wow! You easily forget how rainy the rainy season is. Lakes in the parking lot, that about describes it.
Random Quote: “Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them…Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer.” (there were a variety of different translations of this, quite interesting to see how many different ways it is presented)
-Rainer Maria Rilke
The VO Review (of life and... whatever) 